M7S SMG

"The suppressed M7 -- tears through bad guys and turns them into chum."

— Gunnery Sergeant Edward Buck, giving a run-down of the M7S in the Desperate Measures Video Documentary.

The M7S Submachine Gun^[1] or the Suppressed SMG, is a United Nations Space Command infantry weapon.

Design Details

A suppressor attachment located at the tip of the Halo 2-era SMG barrel.

The M7S is a variant of the M7 Caseless Submachine Gun, which fires 5 x 23mm M443 Caseless Full Metal Jacket ammunition. This variant features an external flash and sound suppressor on the barrel along with a flashlight. Recoil from all but sustained fire is very controllable. Although the M7 submachine-gun is primarily issued to vehicle crews, it is also a favorite of commando teams in its sound suppressed version. Sustained automatic fire tends to cause the muzzle to “walk” upwards as recoil compounds. Submachine guns, while not accurate over long distances, are particularly effective in close quarters. Muzzle flash is significantly decreased, and firing the weapon gives a barely noticeable sound, increasing stealth applications for the M7S Submachine Gun and increasing accuracy from decreased recoil making the weapon more efficient at medium-long range. It is a good weapon for stealth and hit-and-run missions.

Changes from Standard M7

The M7S is attached with a sound suppressor.
The M7S is also attached with a red dot "reflex" scope, making it more effective in dark areas, night and in general close quarters combat.
An extra attached flashlight attached under the suppressor off to the bottom left side of the barrel, similar to the Shotgun.
The magazine capacity has been reduced from 60 rounds to 48. ^[2]
Its reflex scope allows the weapon to zoom in, similar to the new pistol.

Trivia

Miscellaneous

This is the signature weapon of the protagonist of Halo 3: ODST, The Rookie.^[3]
In Halo 3: ODST, the M7S shares the same reticule as the MA5B from Halo: Combat Evolved, which may be a nod to more die-hard Halo fans much like the M6C/SOCOM and the return of gameplay elements from Combat Evolved.
In the handbook for ODST, it is stated that the M7S is "a sound-suppressed variant of the M7 rifle". This is most likely a careless mistake, as the regular M7/Caseless Submachine Gun is not a rifle.

Appearances

Although the M7S does not make any appearance in the game, it is in the files of Halo 2 Vista's built-in map editor. The map is simply named "Example" and the map's description is "This is just a small example of what you can do as a Halo 2 cartographer!".
The M7S can also be seen in the gallery section of the Halo Graphic Novel.^[4]
In Halo: First Strike SPARTAN-117 carries two M7S SMGs.^[5]
In Halo: Contact Harvest, Staff Sergeant Avery Johnson and his squad of Marines were equipped with suppressed M7's during a raid of Insurrectionist factory in the prologue of the book.
It is used by most of the main characters in Halo 3: ODST.